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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Audiobooked but not my favorite Murakami still. Just going for completion
"We can learn from anything if we put in the effort "
"We can learn from anything if we put in the effort "
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4/5 🌟: Audible edition. Narrated by Kirby Heyborne. Pinball, 1973 is the second part of the Trilogy of The Rat. Haruki Murakami begins to find his own voice in this story. Hear the Wind Sing (the previous installment) felt more like a mid-60s style of writing reminiscent of Jack Kerouac whereas Pinball continues this style to some extent, but has a more distinct focus on the interactions between friends and lovers, and pinball machines. There are hints here of Murakami’s magical realism, but published in 1980, it still feels like a typical slice of life story with some intriguing commentary on the production and distribution of pinball machines in the early 1970s. Overall, a pleasure to read with wonderful narration.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Pinball by Haruki Murakami (1973)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Raw and Beautiful Prose
Hello all!
So being that the first book I've read in 2025 was Hear The Wind Sing by Murakami, I decided to follow it up with Pinball which is an extension of Wind anyway. And with my goal of reading a book a week, this one made sense at 200(ish) pages. A few observations...
Like Wind, Pinball was also light on plot. It doesn't matter with Murakami. The prose in describing the most common, everyday, serene scenes is just perfect for my liking. I can read on and on about Rat just sitting in J's Bar, drinking away his thoughts. The conversations here between Rat and J are both somehow meaningless and impactful. Murakami just seems so peak in his ability to make a mundane scene so atmospheric and purposeful. I am really enjoying this journey reading his work, and I know Wind and Pinball are just appetizers. Just don't ask any questions about what you read, go with the flow. It is better that way.
On that note, to enjoy Wind/Pinball you have to be ok with existing in this bizarre, abstract world where some things are true to reality (bands like the Beach Boys, the album Rubber Soul) and some things are made up for these narratives (the author Derek Hartfield). I have no doubt Murakami is taking people and events from his own youth as influences, and meshing them with the imaginary. The twins 208 and 209, for example seem so fictionalized. They fool around with our narrator in bed, perform the typical twin cliche of finishing each other's thoughts and swearing they are easily distinguishable, and the like. I am fairly certain they are completely fictionalized. But then we have the Rat and our narrator, who I could envision as inspirations drawn from some of Murakami's real life experiences. I like not knowing though, and I like existing in the bizarre and not questioning things. It is one of the reasons I have always enjoyed the films of the late David Lynch. Don't question it, just enjoy it.
Speaking of the bizarre, I like how Murakami ascribes meaning, emotion and affection for inanimate things as if they are our pets, our friends, our lovers. He does this in Pinball with a wharf beacon, an old telephone switch panel and of course the pinball machine Spaceship. The relationships he writes in are strange and speak to his creativity and brilliance as a writer. I am still sussing out the concrete meanings behind the individual relationships in this book, but they are definitely the core focal point. But again, not all needs to be known to be enjoyed. There is a close yet distant relationship between the Rat and J. They are almost like old friends who know very little about one another. The relationship between the twins and our narrator seems very blase, superficial, and I always got the vibe he only wanted their company to keep his own loneliness at bay. They are almost like objects, though of course they are alive. He seems to have more affectionate for the kittens he plays with during his lunch breaks. Understandable, kittens are cool. The Rat and his woman have a sort of tragic relationship. He is crazy about her, loves her, but realizes love draws him away from who he really is. So he has to figure out how to split from her. But the sadness and ceremony felt for the old phone switch panel, and the borderline romantic relationship the narrator has with Spaceship are really intriguing. I like this world that Murakami builds, where common things are more than they seem. It gives me very Disco Elysium vibes where objects have character and personality. This philosophy is unique. Whether you hate or love Murakami, this style is very original in my view.
I make the pitch to read these if you are fan of unique styles of writing. The prose is beautiful, and the descriptions of settings like the city, the cemetary, the ocean are just so vivid. But in these raw snippets of the young narrator's life, Murakami writes in little philosophies that hit home spiritually to the reader. I am a huge fan of this, even if nothing is really happening on so grand a scale plotwise. It is the whole purpose of writing, to reach readers in grand and subtle sentences. And it is a testament to Murakami's ability to do this. These early works of his have been a treat, and for folks who want to immerse themselves in the Murakami catalogue, this is quite a good introduction. I am looking forward to reading the rest of his collection. Read his works, don't ask questions, just enjoy it.
“Almost nothing can be gained from pinball. The only payoff is a numerical substitution for pride. The losses, however, are considerable. You could probably erect bronze statues of every American president (assuming you are willing to include Richard Nixon) with the coins you will lose, while your lost time is irreplaceable."
“No sooner had one season slipped out the door than the next came in by another door. A person might scramble to the closing door and call out, Hey, wait a minute, there’s one last thing I forgot to tell you. But nobody would be there any more. The door shuts tight. Already another season is in the room, sitting in a chair, striking a match to light a cigarette. Anything you forgot to mention, the stranger says, you might as well go ahead and tell me, and if it works out, I’ll get the message through."
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Raw and Beautiful Prose
Hello all!
So being that the first book I've read in 2025 was Hear The Wind Sing by Murakami, I decided to follow it up with Pinball which is an extension of Wind anyway. And with my goal of reading a book a week, this one made sense at 200(ish) pages. A few observations...
Like Wind, Pinball was also light on plot. It doesn't matter with Murakami. The prose in describing the most common, everyday, serene scenes is just perfect for my liking. I can read on and on about Rat just sitting in J's Bar, drinking away his thoughts. The conversations here between Rat and J are both somehow meaningless and impactful. Murakami just seems so peak in his ability to make a mundane scene so atmospheric and purposeful. I am really enjoying this journey reading his work, and I know Wind and Pinball are just appetizers. Just don't ask any questions about what you read, go with the flow. It is better that way.
On that note, to enjoy Wind/Pinball you have to be ok with existing in this bizarre, abstract world where some things are true to reality (bands like the Beach Boys, the album Rubber Soul) and some things are made up for these narratives (the author Derek Hartfield). I have no doubt Murakami is taking people and events from his own youth as influences, and meshing them with the imaginary. The twins 208 and 209, for example seem so fictionalized. They fool around with our narrator in bed, perform the typical twin cliche of finishing each other's thoughts and swearing they are easily distinguishable, and the like. I am fairly certain they are completely fictionalized. But then we have the Rat and our narrator, who I could envision as inspirations drawn from some of Murakami's real life experiences. I like not knowing though, and I like existing in the bizarre and not questioning things. It is one of the reasons I have always enjoyed the films of the late David Lynch. Don't question it, just enjoy it.
Speaking of the bizarre, I like how Murakami ascribes meaning, emotion and affection for inanimate things as if they are our pets, our friends, our lovers. He does this in Pinball with a wharf beacon, an old telephone switch panel and of course the pinball machine Spaceship. The relationships he writes in are strange and speak to his creativity and brilliance as a writer. I am still sussing out the concrete meanings behind the individual relationships in this book, but they are definitely the core focal point. But again, not all needs to be known to be enjoyed. There is a close yet distant relationship between the Rat and J. They are almost like old friends who know very little about one another. The relationship between the twins and our narrator seems very blase, superficial, and I always got the vibe he only wanted their company to keep his own loneliness at bay. They are almost like objects, though of course they are alive. He seems to have more affectionate for the kittens he plays with during his lunch breaks. Understandable, kittens are cool. The Rat and his woman have a sort of tragic relationship. He is crazy about her, loves her, but realizes love draws him away from who he really is. So he has to figure out how to split from her. But the sadness and ceremony felt for the old phone switch panel, and the borderline romantic relationship the narrator has with Spaceship are really intriguing. I like this world that Murakami builds, where common things are more than they seem. It gives me very Disco Elysium vibes where objects have character and personality. This philosophy is unique. Whether you hate or love Murakami, this style is very original in my view.
I make the pitch to read these if you are fan of unique styles of writing. The prose is beautiful, and the descriptions of settings like the city, the cemetary, the ocean are just so vivid. But in these raw snippets of the young narrator's life, Murakami writes in little philosophies that hit home spiritually to the reader. I am a huge fan of this, even if nothing is really happening on so grand a scale plotwise. It is the whole purpose of writing, to reach readers in grand and subtle sentences. And it is a testament to Murakami's ability to do this. These early works of his have been a treat, and for folks who want to immerse themselves in the Murakami catalogue, this is quite a good introduction. I am looking forward to reading the rest of his collection. Read his works, don't ask questions, just enjoy it.
“Almost nothing can be gained from pinball. The only payoff is a numerical substitution for pride. The losses, however, are considerable. You could probably erect bronze statues of every American president (assuming you are willing to include Richard Nixon) with the coins you will lose, while your lost time is irreplaceable."
“No sooner had one season slipped out the door than the next came in by another door. A person might scramble to the closing door and call out, Hey, wait a minute, there’s one last thing I forgot to tell you. But nobody would be there any more. The door shuts tight. Already another season is in the room, sitting in a chair, striking a match to light a cigarette. Anything you forgot to mention, the stranger says, you might as well go ahead and tell me, and if it works out, I’ll get the message through."
adventurous
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel, written in 1980, focuses on the “I” character, his friend The Rat, a bar owner named J, a set of twins, a pinball machine, a dead girlfriend, a dog at a train station and a bunch of other Murakami randomness.
In the novel, the narrator recounts his experiences with an old girlfriend, who killed herself, trying to come to terms with her death. He interacts with a set of twins who may or may not be real (I vote no) and hunts down a pinball machine that he once set the high score on. He never interacts with his friend The Rat, who is on his own, independent journey, dating and breaking up with a woman, hanging out with J at the bar, and deciding to leave town (or is he deciding to commit suicide?).
In the novel, the narrator recounts his experiences with an old girlfriend, who killed herself, trying to come to terms with her death. He interacts with a set of twins who may or may not be real (I vote no) and hunts down a pinball machine that he once set the high score on. He never interacts with his friend The Rat, who is on his own, independent journey, dating and breaking up with a woman, hanging out with J at the bar, and deciding to leave town (or is he deciding to commit suicide?).
This is one of Murakami's first two novels (the other being "Hear The Wind Sing"), neither of which was translated into English on a large scale. Each was translated in a small batch in Japan, I think for Japanese people who wanted to practice English. I got interested in reading these two after reading "A Wild Sheep Chase", which forms a trilogy with them ("Dance Dance Dance" is also related, so maybe it's a tetralogy). I looked on Amazon and while there are a few copies of each being sold used, the cheapest "Pinball, 1973" was around $500! (There are some reasonably priced copies of HTWS.) Anyway, just on a lark, I put them on my Amazon wishlist, in case any cheaper copies surfaced. When I was home for Thanksgiving, my dad showed me that he had gotten a copy through university interlibrary loan, and had made a little photocopied booklet version for me to take home. (It's under 200 very small pages.) Lovely! I read it in about two days.
The book itself was pretty interesting, too. I can see how it (as well as AWSC) is not as refined as his later, more popular work, but I actually like it quite a bit. In contrast to much of his published work, nothing truly mystical or fantastical happens in P1973. The narrator early on describes conversations with people from Venus and Saturn, but these seem clearly intended not to be taken literally. There are certainly surreal elements, like the twins who live with the narrator, but everything's within the realm of possibility.
P1973 is short, but after finishing it, I felt like there was still a lot of meaning in it that I hadn't unpacked, and I definitely think I will re-read it in the future. It's interesting to me how he tells the stories of the narrator and The Rat in parallel (and the stories have many similarities), but he never brings the two together at all, despite the fact that the two are supposed to be friends, and despite the common postmodern practice of weaving together seemingly-unrelated narratives. (They do come together in AWSC.) The most interesting metaphysical issue that he raises is the significance of entrances and exits. He only talks about this explicitly when he's naming the twins, but it seems important throughout the work. As far as I can tell, his point is that only things with both entrances and exits can be healthy, and that things without one or the other are twisted and corrupt. Not sure whether pinball machines should be considered to have either or both, but I think he definitely depicts them as "lacking an exit". I also thought he did a good job of exploring the issue of transference in this short piece, with regard to the narrator's girlfriend and the pinball machine.
If you're interested in borrowing the photocopy packet, let me know! It's already on to another borrower.
The book itself was pretty interesting, too. I can see how it (as well as AWSC) is not as refined as his later, more popular work, but I actually like it quite a bit. In contrast to much of his published work, nothing truly mystical or fantastical happens in P1973. The narrator early on describes conversations with people from Venus and Saturn, but these seem clearly intended not to be taken literally. There are certainly surreal elements, like the twins who live with the narrator, but everything's within the realm of possibility.
P1973 is short, but after finishing it, I felt like there was still a lot of meaning in it that I hadn't unpacked, and I definitely think I will re-read it in the future. It's interesting to me how he tells the stories of the narrator and The Rat in parallel (and the stories have many similarities), but he never brings the two together at all, despite the fact that the two are supposed to be friends, and despite the common postmodern practice of weaving together seemingly-unrelated narratives. (They do come together in AWSC.) The most interesting metaphysical issue that he raises is the significance of entrances and exits. He only talks about this explicitly when he's naming the twins, but it seems important throughout the work. As far as I can tell, his point is that only things with both entrances and exits can be healthy, and that things without one or the other are twisted and corrupt. Not sure whether pinball machines should be considered to have either or both, but I think he definitely depicts them as "lacking an exit". I also thought he did a good job of exploring the issue of transference in this short piece, with regard to the narrator's girlfriend and the pinball machine.
If you're interested in borrowing the photocopy packet, let me know! It's already on to another borrower.
Would say this is closer to a 4.5 for me but can’t risk putting this on the same level as Wild Sheep Chase
can't rate 'cause i didn't even know what i've just finished TOT still managed to complete it though
(the vibe is great, that's why but i can't understand a thing TOT)
(the vibe is great, that's why but i can't understand a thing TOT)